U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., blocked the U.S. Commerce Department’s injunction against Byte-Tek’s product TikTok from going into effect on Monday night (Dec. 7), Reuters news agency said. According to reports, this is the second U.S. judge to block Trump administration agencies from enforcing the TikTok ban, with U.S. Judge Wendy Beale of Pennsylvania blocking the ban more than a month ago. Judge Wendy Beetlestone of Pennsylvania had also blocked the same restrictions, which were scheduled to take effect on November 12.
The U.S. government had previously issued an executive order prohibiting TikTok from hosting data, providing content delivery services, or engaging in other technology transactions in the United States. In response, TikTok attempted to block the ban in a Washington, D.C., courtroom, while a separate group of TikTok users filed a separate lawsuit in Pennsylvania.
Washington District Judge Nickels found that the U.S. Department of Commerce had “likely exceeded” its legal authority in issuing the TikTok injunction and had “acted arbitrarily and capriciously without considering alternatives. Judge Nickels therefore blocked the Commerce Department’s injunction.
The U.S. Court of Appeals will hear Judge Nickels’ decision to block the Commerce Department’s injunction on December 14.
Trump had previously ordered TikTok to divest itself of U.S. assets in August, and the deadline for that order was last Friday (Dec. 4). So far, the order has exceeded the deadline, and the U.S. government has declined to extend the ban, but has said that negotiations are continuing.
The U.S. Treasury Department said last Friday night that the government “is working with ByteTok to complete the divestiture and other steps necessary to address national security risks.”
Under pressure from the U.S. government, ByteDance has been negotiating with Walmart and Oracle for months to finalize a deal to transfer TikTok’s U.S. assets to a new entity.
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